


The Travails of Brother Septentrio

by etherealApostate



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, WIP, apologies to st thomas cantilupe to my history professor and to the entire catholic faith, blasphemy? kind of? if you squint?, dont do academia kids, more characters to be added (dont wanna spoil my suuuper well thought out plot), the most intensely researched crack fic ive ever done
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-21 21:05:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14293452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etherealApostate/pseuds/etherealApostate
Summary: Brother Septentrio of Trembley (or, as he’s known outside his aspirations to hagiographical fame, Brother Dipper) is sent to the town of Cregwick to collaborate with a papal emissary in the evaluation of miracles purportedly performed by the late bishop Gideon Gleoful. But before he can begin the inquisition, he finds himself thrown into the midst of a treasonous insurrection at the sudden death of Cregwick’s iron-fisted Lord de Nordouest. Even the Cregwickians loyal to lord and king are not what they seem -- and before long, Dipper himself might be praying for a miracle….





	The Travails of Brother Septentrio

**Author's Note:**

> This is a "medieval" AU based very (very) loosely on the Miracle of the Hanged Man, attributed to St. Thomas Cantilupe. I am not an expert in hagiography. I am merely capitalizing on the lurid premise of the Hanged Man story, with respect to my enthusiasm for Gravity Falls, and with respect to the particular sense of abstract humor a modern reader can imagine in the idea of a formal medieval inquisition determining the veracity of miracles. 
> 
> I've been reading about sainthood long enough this semester to feel the desire to have some good-natured fun with it, but to avoid spoiling that fun with a lot of extraneous research and/or crossing the line into being disrespectful of actual ecclesiastical orders, I've decided to just make up the really spiritually significant religious details in here. So, while there are elements grounded in 13-14th c English reality (like technological limitations, or the general structure of ecclesiastical hierarchy, or some major hagiographical conventions), all figures and places and beliefs are pretty much fictitious. You won't find St. Thomas Cantilupe, or even the Virgin Mary, but you'll definitely find St. Quentin of Trembley!
> 
> In light of the above, a note on names: I found it a happy accident that many of the Gravity Falls characters' names can be backformed into more latinish or middle english or frenchy versions. I did this foremost because I'm a nerd, but also because, while I feel like "Brother Dipper" sounds natural enough in a colloquial context in this story, his also having a fancy "official" name like "Brother Septentrio" for formal contexts is a useful difference. 
> 
> I should have a first chapter to post sometime soon, but in the meantime, an initial cast of characters! And, if you're interested in the actual narrative of the Hanged Man miracle, the book The Hanged Man by R. Bartlett is an excellent place to start.

Characters

_to be updated as fit_

  * **Gideon Gleoful,** late bishop of Cregwick, to whom many miracles have been attributed in the two years since his death. His saintly status is the subject of an impending papal inquisition. With luck (and the support of the local gentry), he will become St. Gideon of Cregwick, and his cult will usher in pilgrimages (and with them, prestige and trade) from far and wide. 
  * **Guendoleu Melfaréd** , notorious local brigand.
  * **Lady Pacifica de Nordouest** , daughter of the iron-fisted and very recently deceased  **Lord de Nordouest**. As his sole offspring, she must marry and produce an heir with utmost haste if the title is not to proceed to her least favorite uncle.
  * **Fiþele-Ford** , a decrepit hermit who occasionally torments the town of Cregwick with unfortunate music and unhinged ramblings.
  * **Brother Dipper** , a Trembleian monk known formally as  **Brother Septrentio _,_** whose hagiography of St. Quentin of Trembley (the founder of the new Trembleian order) has earned him some measure of papal approval, and who has subsequently been enlisted as one of three investigators of the purported miracles of Gideon Gleoful. Brother Dipper hails from Trembley itself, but is eager to visit Cregwick, where his twin sister has lived for the past year in the first Trembleian convent.
  * **Sister Mabel** , a Trembleian novice known formally as  **Sister Amabilis** , and twin of Brother Dipper. An educated but restless young woman, she was attracted eventually by the spiritual life of the Trembleians and declined marriage to enter the first Trembleian convent, in Cregwick.
  * **Brothers Powers and Trigger** , papal envoys sailing to carry out the evaluation of the purported miracles of Gideon along with Brother Dipper.




End file.
